March 7, 2014

The assailants, reportedly dressed in military camouflage, shot randomly as they struck five villages in the Rim District of Nigeria.

Daniel Bitrus Manjang, a pastor with Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN), said the attacks were “very tragic.”

“About 200 houses were burned, and 16 Christians were killed,” he said.

Another COCIN pastor in the area, Patrick Kim, said the attackers were present from around 4 p.m. to after midnight.

The church leaders said two worship sanctuaries and residences of two COCIN pastors were among the buildings set ablaze.

They said it was the second such attack in the district in less than a week; Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed two Christians in late February.

Christians make up 51.3 percent of Nigeria’s population of 158.2 million, while Muslims account for 45 percent. Those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World, so the percentages of Christians and Muslims may be less.